Labour ‘humiliated’ as Sentencing Council defies calls to bin two-tier justice | Politics | News | EUROtoday

The prospect of “two-tier justice” edged even nearer on Friday after the Sentencing Council defended massively controversial new pointers.

The steering stated pre-sentence reviews, that are designed to “tailor” sentences most acceptable to an offender’s historical past and background, needs to be ready if a felony is from an ethnic minority or transgender.

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood urged the quango to reverse the plans and threatened to abolish the Sentencing Council or limit their powers in the event that they refused.

Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick additionally claimed the plans may value taxpayers tens of hundreds of thousands.

But the Sentencing Council on Friday defended the plans and rejected calls to vary the rules, that means they’ll are available in on April 1.

And Mr Jenrick declared: “Shabana Mahmood has been humiliated by the Sentencing Council.

“In three days time we may have two-tier sentencing due to her and Two-Tier Keir. It is shameful they sat on their arms and selected to not legislate to stop two-tier justice.”

David Spencer, Head of Crime and Justice, Policy Exchange: “The Sentencing Council’s refusal to vary their place is exceptional – and yet one more instance of how, as Policy Exchange has lengthy argued, too many arm’s size our bodies have been given the ability to set coverage and frustrate the desire of the elected Government.

“By defending prioritising pre-sentence reviews for ethnic minority criminals the Chairman of the Sentencing Council is entrenching two-tier justice inside our courtroom system. The Lord Chancellor has rightly stated she’s going to, if needed, legislate to overturn this – she ought to achieve this at once.”

They advised Ms Mahmood: “For most of the cohorts, the need for a pre-sentence report arises from some characteristic of the offender.

“In the case of ethnic, cultural and faith minority groups, the issue is the need to provide full information to the sentencing court. The Council consulted on the inclusion of a list of cohorts.

“As I explained in my previous letter, the overall response to the consultation was positive.

“The crucial point is that a pre-sentence report will provide information to the judge or magistrate. It will not determine the sentence. Rather, it will leave the judge or magistrate better informed about the offender.”

The new plans may imply white criminals usually tend to be jailed than ethnic minorities offenders.

But the Sentencing Council advised the Justice Secretary: “As you say in your letter, there is a difference in sentencing outcomes for ethnic minorities.

“The Council agreed that any systemic issue relating to different ethnic groups will be a matter of policy.

“It is not for judges to introduce overarching policies to redress the imbalance. However, sentences are imposed by judges and magistrates.

“Any judge or magistrate required to sentence an offender must to do all that they can to avoid a difference in outcome based on ethnicity.

“The judge will be better equipped to do that if they have as much information as possible about the offender.

“The cohort of ethnic, cultural and faith minority groups may be a cohort about which judges and magistrates are less well informed.

“In our view, providing the sentencing court with information about that cohort could not impinge on whatever policy might be introduced to deal with the underlying problem.

“Provision of a pre-sentence report in an individual case cannot have damaging consequences for wider policy making.”

Responding to the information that her suggestion had been rejected, Ms Mahmood stated: “I have been clear in my view that these guidelines represent differential treatment, under which someone’s outcomes may be influenced by their race, culture or religion.

“This is unacceptable, and I formally set out my objections to this in a letter to the Sentencing Council final week.

“I am extremely disappointed by the Council’s response. All options are on the table and I will legislate if necessary.”

This is a breaking story. More to observe.